Speedy Hire cements Middle East links

SPEEDY Hire, the North West tool and equipment provider to the construction sector, has underlined its international credentials as it cemented a £10m+ Middle East deal.

The Newton-le-Willows-based group, which has been forced to cast its net wider as the recession has hit the UK, said it had signed a five year strategic services agreement with Al Futtaim Carillion – Carillion plc’s long standing joint venture in the Middle East and North Africa with the Al-Futtaim Group.

The formal agreement follows on from the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Speedy and AFC last July.

Under the terms of the deal Speedy will provide Al Futtaim Carillion with light plant and equipment across the Middle East and North Africa, and provide a full range of asset management and logistical services using its new and innovative IT and business process platforms.

Under a separate agreement signed with AFC, Speedy has acquired certain light plant and other assets from AFC for  £4.1m which, together with existing equipment transferred from the UK and investment in new equipment, takes

Speedy’s overall investment to support AFC’s specific requirements to £8.5m.
In addition to supporting a number of long-term AFC projects in the UAE, under the terms of the Strategic Services Agreement, Speedy will in due course extend its support to other projects in the region.

The agreement with AFC means that Speedy’s International Asset Services Division is on track to deliver exit run rate turnover as at March 2010 of more than £10m.

Steve Corcoran, Speedy’s chief executive said:“We are delighted to announce this further development of our strategic relationship with Carillion.

“This underlines the long term value of our strategy of deepening our relationships with leading international contractors and industrial clients and highlights Speedy’s rapid progress in becoming an international services business”